Is it safe to feed farmed salmon with bristle worms raised on fish excrement?
It is currently prohibited to provide animals with feed derived from the same animals’ own ‘value chain’. But this legislation is not based on science.
Fish and aquaculture
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If we can’t untangle this mess, Norway’s blue industry will never be green
For the first time, researchers have investigated how ropes and fishing lines are handled by the Norwegian commercial fishing industry. The fishing fleet loses almost 400 tonnes of rope in Norwegian waters every year.
Is there a new deep-sea fishery on the horizon?
Well, some researchers believe this is possible. Species living at depths between 200 and 1000 metres may be very valuable. However, harvesting them isn’t as easy as it might sound because, when taken on board, valuable catches change rapidly from pure gold to ashes.
Ultrasound can save fish in hydropower rivers
Shooting sound waves through water can remove dissolved gas that results from hydropower production in rivers. This gas can harm fish. Researchers are now ready to test techniques to reduce the risk in real hydropower plants.
Climate change in Greenland could cause trouble for arctic char
Greenland’s glaciers are melting and the surrounding seawater is getting warmer. How are arctic char coping with climate change? Scientists are in the process of figuring it out.
Copepods – tiny creatures that can help reduce the need for soya imports
In the sea, fish feed on species lower in the food chain. Can these same species form the basis of a new feed industry supplying the fish farming sector?
Norway will be the first in the world to approve seabed mining. Is it a good idea?
The transition to a greener, renewable economy will require large amounts of minerals, and society has to get them from somewhere. Norwegian politicians have reached an agreement approving deep sea mining, in a proposal that has reaped both cheers and frustration from scientists and activists alike. Here’s what our scientists think.
Researchers want to create a forecasting system for oxygen concentrations in sea water
Farmed fish suffer if there is too little oxygen in the water. A system that can display oxygen concentrations may make it easier to supply this essential gas if the water becomes oxygen-poor.
Six out of ten are worried that their work is affecting their health
The 1,283 workers in the aquaculture sector who have responded to a recent HSE survey are not anxious without good reason. Sixty-two percent have experienced ‘near misses’ in the last two years. However, there is another threat that is making them even more worried.
This tiny gadget can tell us all about how a farmed salmon is doing
Sick and injured farmed salmon are a problem, but researchers have recently developed an implant that uses sensors to gather information about the welfare of individual fish.
Fish excrement – a superfood for plants
Vegetable farmers will soon be helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and environmental pollution while at the same time boosting our self-sufficiency.
Early whaling eradicated species from local waters
Several whale species disappeared from Europe long before whaling became a major industry. Two of the most common species are no longer found here, and one of them is almost extinct.
Sludge from salmon hatcheries will become a sought-after resource
Fish faeces and residual feed recovered from salmon hatcheries may soon become a sustainable product. The salmon farming sector will be crying out for a solution to the forecast ‘feed squeeze’.
Salmon that eat salmon are more environmentally friendly
We should use all parts of whole farmed salmon and keep more of the residuals here in Norway. Researchers say this will help protect the environment while ensuring salmon welfare.
New guidelines for a greener seafood sector
The aquaculture sector can now download a set of guidelines containing 25 ideas about the circular use of plastics.
How safe is your sushi?
Bacteria in raw seafood can make you sick. Seafood can also spread bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics.
Listening to Leviathans
Nineteenth-century Norwegian technology helped bring large whale populations to the brink of extinction. Can 21st-century technology help save them?
Marine plastic waste can spread antimicrobial resistance
Bacteria discharged to the oceans in sewage and wastewater thrive on the biofilms that form on plastic waste. This may be leading to the somewhat unanticipated problem of antimicrobial resistance.
Norway needs a ‘salmon feed revolution’
The issue of salmon feed has become a bottleneck, hindering the growth and sustainability of the Norwegian aquaculture sector. In the future, insect meal, bristle worms and bacteria that consume CO2 may become essential components of a farmed salmon’s diet.
Small snail looking to be big business
Researchers have succeeded in nurturing a small snail called periwinkles in the laboratory for the very first time and are hoping that this French delicacy might be the launch pad for a new, Norwegian aquaculture business.
Teaching the world how hydropower development can safeguard fish populations
SINTEF researcher Marcell Szabo-Meszaros is the man behind the international study ‘Hydropower and Fish – a Roadmap for Best Practice Management’, which offers guidelines on fish population protection in rivers to companies carrying out hydropower developments.
Learning to trace salmon lice
Is it only farmed fish that are responsible for spreading salmon lice larvae? Or is it also possible that wild salmon can infect farmed fish? This is what researchers will be trying to find out.
Professor wants to involve children in work
“A sense of community between generations will be key to ensuring sustainable coastal communities. The importance of children’s learning through work is underestimated,” says Professor Anne Trine Kjørholt.
The aquaculture sector is aiming at better plastic recycling
There is enormous potential in the aquaculture sector to generate circular economy initiatives when it comes to its use of plastics. But can these be made commercially viable? Researchers believe that they can.